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Syracuse was on its third pitcher for the day, Lindsey Hendrix, and it was only the third inning. With Hendrix giving up a double and another two runs on her first batter, the Orange were down eight.

Then, Hendrix threw a wild pitch that catcher Laila Alves couldn’t corral. This sent Makayla Packer home and the Orange were in the same position they put Delaware State in the day before — down by nine and in danger of getting mercied before the end of the fifth inning.

After beating the Hornets 9-0 after five innings on Saturday morning, Syracuse (9-4) fell to Auburn (14-1) by the same score on Sunday afternoon. The Orange dropped two of three games at the Plainsman Invite in Auburn, Alabama, as they also lost to Bradley 6-2 on Friday evening. A nightmare third inning for Syracuse pitching put the team in a hole that was nearly impossible to come back from.

The Orange struggled throughout the game to make contact as Auburn pitcher Shelby Lowe struck out over half of the batters she faced. After closing Saturday’s game against the Hornets, Ariana Adams got the start against the Tigers. She had two strikes on the leadoff batter, but Packer ended up poking a ball to short center for a single. Then, Packer got all the way to third on a ground ball before shortstop Nelia Peralta hit one up the middle to send her home and put Auburn up 1-0.

Syracuse got on base at the top of the second, with Neli Casares-Maher and Angie Ramos both singling up the middle to put runners on first and second. But the Orange couldn’t capitalize as Lowe caught Alves swinging to retire the side. Following a bumpy first inning, Adams responded with a no-hit second that ended after four batters.

Lowe threw a 1-2-3 inning to start the third and added two more strikeouts to the tally. Once Summer Clark subbed in for Adams to start the third, the Tigers offense exploded. Packer hit another single up the middle and stole second during a long Sydney Cox at-bat that ended with her walking to first. Then, Peralta doubled to right center, which sent Cox to third and Packer home.

Clark fielded a ground ball at the pitcher’s circle and threw out Lindsey Garcia at first later in the inning. But Auburn freshman Bri Ellis hit a two-run home run deep to center field to extend Auburn’s lead to five. Aspyn Godwin followed that up with a solo shot of her own, making it 6-0. After SU allowed two straight singles that put runners on first and second, head coach Shannon Doepking pulled Clark for Hendrix. Hendrix finally got out of the inning on a Peralta fly out to right field, but the damage was already done.

Syracuse freshman Kelly Breen tried to respond by singling between the shortstop and third base, but Lowe put away the next three batters to quickly end the inning. Although she gave up two hits, Hendrix pitched a better fourth inning as she got out of it after five batters.

Syracuse tried to avoid the mercy rule in the fifth inning. The team needed two runs to keep the game going and it seemed promising when Ramos kicked off the fifth with a line drive to right center. After sophomore Ryan Gallegos was caught swinging for the first out, Paris Woods got to first with a hit to left center. Then, Carli Campbell’s shot to third base forced an error and the bases were loaded with just one out. But Lowe struck out Tessa Galipeau and Breen back-to-back to end the game.

Published on February 27, 2022 at 5:20 pm

Contact Matthew: mahassan@syr.edu